The Pageless Book

Photo by Lin Bow

I’ve mentioned before that I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. Because of this condition, I have to pay special attention to my mood and my stress level so that I don’t suffer a panic attack. Meditation has become a form of preventative medicine for me, but as we all know, it is hard sometimes to find the time when at work or during other important social engagements. Just for this reason, I’ve developed a few meditation techniques that help me relax in the toughest situations.

If you have time to use the restroom, you have time to meditate. Now, I won’t claim that a five minute meditation is going to be as therapeutic as a longer or deeper meditation, but that isn’t its purpose. A five minute meditation is like a between-meal snack; it gives you just enough to help you function until you have a moment to take care of yourself properly. Like all quick fixes, this is a temporary solution, so please don’t treat these techniques as anything but temporary.

The first step is finding some privacy. Now, I don’t want you to think that you must find total privacy - often times this can be unrealistic. Privacy can be as little as walking into a back room, the before-mentioned bathroom brake, or a mindless activity that separates you from your source of stress. All you need is enough privacy so you can hear yourself think.

The next step is to take three deep breaths, each one slower then the last. This clears my mind, slows down my heart rate, and prepares me for the rest of the meditation. If you feel you need more then three deep breaths, take your time and give yourself what you need. I sometimes find it helpful to visualize light entering my body with each breath, but this is completely up to you.

This small act might be enough to help you deal with your situation, but if not, you should try recognizing the source of your stress and accepting it. Sometimes recognizing the source of stress can be enough to bring relief. Allowing myself a moment to acknowledge that a situation is stressful and accepting that situation for what it is gives me enough perspective to handle the stress it creates. I need only to say to myself, “I am feeling stressful because…” then state what is making me feel stressful.

After accepting the source of your stress, most often I will need to delve deeper. Attempts to keep your emotions in check can become an added source of stress in addition to your external situation. Say to yourself “This is stressful because it makes me feel…” finishing the sentence with how it is making you feel stressed. Perhaps you are angry that you have to deal with a problem that you didn’t create. For me, sometimes I feel afraid of making a mistake, or guilty that I have already made mistakes. Whatever it is, by recognizing that emotion and no longer avoiding that emotion, you will find the situation easier to handle.

Finally, if you still have not sufficiently calmed down, you should remind yourself why you can handle this stressful situation. Say to yourself “I can handle this because…” and say whatever best helps you face your problem. If it is an ongoing issue, I like to remind yourself that I have handled this successfully before, or if you feel that the source of your stress is somehow your fault, remind yourself that everyone makes mistakes. Whatever it is you need to say to yourself, say it over and over again, until it begins to have a calming affect. I would personally recommend between seven and ten times, but if you feel relaxed after less repetitions, that is fine as well. Once again, I take a few slow deep breaths. Now I would be ready to face whatever obstacle ahead of me.

Most times, a five minute meditation isn’t enough to completely relieve you of your stress. That’s okay. I find that working out even a small bit of that tension from my day can make it more bearable and is usually enough to keep a handle on myself. It should go without saying, however, that the better you take care of yourself when you are not in stressful situations, the easier it will become to maintain a low level of stress in those situations. With this in mind, if you find yourself using this technique more than once per day, you should look into other means of lowering your over all stress level. For me, this meant seeing my doctor, although for you it may mean daily meditation or exercise.